David Cuckoo Cooling
Without Prejudice
In 1982 I went back to the UK for a visit. I travelled with my Mother In Law Gwen. I turned 30 on the plane somewhere over The Steppes and I didn't even want to acknowledge the hated birthday. About 10pm Gwen said to me,
"By the way, Happy Birthday" and I just grunted and said nothing. We were delayed by fog over Haethrow and had to go into a holding pattern for an hour or so and then we were directed to Prestwick in Scotland. We sat on the ground for an hour or so. For once the weather was warm in the UK and the air conditioning couldn't be turned on.
We sweated genteely on the plane and then finally were able to fly back to Heathrow and land. By this time we had been travelling over 26 hours. We caught a London taxi cab to Paddington where we were staying in a small hotel. Gwen and I unpacked and went off in search of a good fish and chip shop as I was insisting we do. She had wanted to stay in the room and eat dry jatz crackers and vegemite. Much more sensible than my idea.
But off we went to a fish and chip shop just down the road and I ordered fish, chips, mushy peas, bread and butter. HP sauce and tea. And when it was served up I looked at it and couldn't take a bite. I just stared at it and I didn't know what I wanted to do. Not eat that was for sure, but I was so jet lagged I didn't know whether I wanted to eat, shit or die. I pushed the food away and we returned to the room. My feet felt like they had tennis balls under them and I rocked on them to try and walk.
I finally collapsed on the bed as did Gwen and we slept the clock round and woke up the next day. Her cousin was coming to pick us up and take us to their house to stay a few days. They lived in Banstead in a gorgeous double story house with a conservatory out the back, a magnificent back garden. The house was gorgeous, sumptuous, a genteel Victorian brick.
We went to the Opera that night at the West End to see The Magic Flute and both of us slept through most of it. Gwen started snoring and I had to nudge her awake and promptly did the same myself within minutes. We caught the very excellent Tube back to Banstead and climbed into bed and fell asleep straight away.
The next day we went to Hampton Court, The Albert and Victoria Museum and Tate. Alex and Joan came with us and showed us the delights of London. They were pensioners so we brought lunch with us. Sandwiches, and crisps and lots of Penguin biscuits and flasks of tea. Hampton Court was beautiful, steeped in History and the gardens were lush. We ate ice creams on the lawns. It was like something out of an Agatha Christie mystery. Walls and steps and kitchens centuries old.
It reminded me of my class trip from Thornes House Grammar to Hadrians Wall, seeing what was left of the Roman invasion. England is so steeped in rich history at first we couldn't get enough of it. We walked the streets of London and the weather was quite hot for September. We ended up taking off our shoes and walked into Hyde Park barefoot and had strangers stare at us but we didn't care.
Yazoo played on the radio somewhere and Culture Club and Dexie's Midnight Runners were looking for someone called Eileen. We ate ices from the ice cream van and watched the boats on the lake. We walked to Piccadilly Circus and asked a street vendor if the fruits he had were really nectarines. He said,
"Nah, thems Irish Tomatoes"
"How come they are not green, then ?" Gwen asked.
"Thems Nectarines love", he replied mimicking our Strine Aussie accents.
We walked away and went to Harrods.
I was soon speeding on my way to Yorkshire on the Flying Scotsman with its buffet car and 200 mile an hour speed. I couldn't wait to get there and see my Aunts, Uncles and cousins. Gwen went off on a tour of Europe, 24 countries in 24 days type of tour on a coach. I didn't want to go, I just wanted to see my relations who I hadn't seen since 1968. My Mother had died by then and I was going to be seeing her sisters, Pat and Betty. My uncle Jack and Uncles Joe and Ernest. Cousins Raymond and Keith and John and David too. The last time I had seen them all I was a girl of 16 and now I was a married Mum of 4 girls.
The train pulled into the Sation and there they all were and I cried as did they. Grandma had died and granddad in the intervening years and my Dad was also back living in the UK. I went to see him and his new lady and he was well and happy. But my Aunts were outstanding, so welcoming, and I firstly went to saty with Auntie Betty and Uncle Ernest. They both worked during the day so I was pretty much left to my own devices.
One morning The Commonwealth Games came on from Brisbane and they delightedly showed me The Opening Ceremony. When Matilda the Giant Kangaroo came out and winked and children ran down her pouch of stairs I burst into tears. My Homesickness for Australia coming to the fore. Auntie Betty and Uncle Ernest were shocked and insisted I ring home and talk to my girls. Debbie said they were all fine and I was not to worry.
I had spent all that money to go to the Uk, she said and I should make the most of it. Deb at the time was 11, so mature, so sensible, so loving. I spoke to all the girls and they were all fine. I knew they would be missing me and my husband had insisted I accompany his Mother to the UK, as it was her most fervent wish. I was not sure it was mine but in those days I just did as I was told.
Auntie Pat arrived and took me out, we went shopping and then to a girlfriends of hers house. Mary Cooling. I liked her she was irreverent, swore a lot and smoked like a train. She was the Mother of 8 kids and she kept an immaculate home. We had tea and conversation and she mentioned she had a Son that went to Thornes House Grammar School when I had, his name was David, she said but was also was known by the nickname Cuckoo and I knew him.
he was the boy that had befriended me when I first arrived, he was the class clown a small dark headed boy. I was delighted I knew him and we arranged for us all to go out that night to a club in Wakefield. When I arrived back at Mary's that night a giant of a man entered her kitchen and I was gob smacked. David was now 6" 5", a gaint of a man in a slim fitting V neck jumper and dark pants. He and I greeted each other like the childhood friends we had been from the ages of 12 to 16.
We all went out and danced like fools the music was great and drank Lager and limes and didn't get home until 3am. My aunt and Mary had gone home about midnight and David and I caught a mini cab back to Mary's house. David called it the Mecca Car Park as it had a huge concrete area to one side. The house was typical of most housing Estate homes in Wakefield. Bedrooms upstairs and living area down stairs. There were two what they call "reception rooms and David and I settled in the back one and played music as Mary and Auntie Pat talked in the other.
He looked at my photos of my family of hubby and girls. He said how lucky I was, handsome hubby and 4 pretty little girls. He put on a song he loved, George Benson, and we chatted. He had recently separated from his wife and they had two little girls. David was a big drinker and she had run off with a neighbour, a Pakistani man. He was quite circumspect about it, and he had found that he was coping OK but had lost his sex drive because of it.
I understood as I was suffering from the same thing as I had a violent hubby and had told no one of his behaviour. I told David, the first person ever I had spoken of it to. I had been married 12 years by then and I was exhausted by my hubby. He listened carefully to me and then he grabbed my hands and said,
"You must go home and leave him, he's violent and trust me he won't change" I nodded in agreement. I knew my hubby was also seeing other women and David was disgusted.
"You had guts at School Janette, don't lose your bottle now"
We became best friends again and I was due to go to Wales the next day with My Aunt Betty And Auntie Pat. We were off to a Ballroom dancing competition for Auntie Betty's only grandchild, Rachel. It was an important competition and was held at a Butlins holiday Camp. David rang and rang to make sure I was ok and when we arrived home after 3 days he and I hung out together as much as was possible. Gwen arrived and stayed with Auntie Betty and I then went to stay for a while with Auntie Pat.
Auntie Pat was like Auntie Mame. large, given to wearing large dresses. To me she was beautiful, kind, funny, irreverent. Her hubby Uncle Joe was an invalid, he had ulcerated legs and was quite sick. He was the most down to earth Man I had ever met and also the most darkly jealous man I had ever met. He adored "his Pat" but he didn't trust her around other men. She had a stunningly pretty face and black curly hair. he hated her going out and leaving him on his own. He chain smoked and coughed like a demon, guttural and harsh.
He wanted Auntie Pat to stay home all the time but he was such a misery that she hated staying home with him. She took me to a Pub one night and introduced me to "Her Lover", man called Bill. They had been in love for years. His wife knew of the affair and had once thrown acid in Auntie Pats face. To say I was gobsmacked at meeting her lover would have been the understatement of the century. My Aunt !
He, Bill, was lovely and you could see he adored Pat. They had once worked together years before and had been in love for a long time. She wouldn't leave Joe as he was invalided and he saw no reason to leave his wife as Auntie Pat wouldn't leave. So they met once or twice a week and they were comfortable with the whole arrangement. I sat google eyed, and shocked beyond all comprehension but I tried not to appear avidly curious.
In 1982 I went back to the UK for a visit. I travelled with my Mother In Law Gwen. I turned 30 on the plane somewhere over The Steppes and I didn't even want to acknowledge the hated birthday. About 10pm Gwen said to me,
"By the way, Happy Birthday" and I just grunted and said nothing. We were delayed by fog over Haethrow and had to go into a holding pattern for an hour or so and then we were directed to Prestwick in Scotland. We sat on the ground for an hour or so. For once the weather was warm in the UK and the air conditioning couldn't be turned on.
We sweated genteely on the plane and then finally were able to fly back to Heathrow and land. By this time we had been travelling over 26 hours. We caught a London taxi cab to Paddington where we were staying in a small hotel. Gwen and I unpacked and went off in search of a good fish and chip shop as I was insisting we do. She had wanted to stay in the room and eat dry jatz crackers and vegemite. Much more sensible than my idea.
But off we went to a fish and chip shop just down the road and I ordered fish, chips, mushy peas, bread and butter. HP sauce and tea. And when it was served up I looked at it and couldn't take a bite. I just stared at it and I didn't know what I wanted to do. Not eat that was for sure, but I was so jet lagged I didn't know whether I wanted to eat, shit or die. I pushed the food away and we returned to the room. My feet felt like they had tennis balls under them and I rocked on them to try and walk.
I finally collapsed on the bed as did Gwen and we slept the clock round and woke up the next day. Her cousin was coming to pick us up and take us to their house to stay a few days. They lived in Banstead in a gorgeous double story house with a conservatory out the back, a magnificent back garden. The house was gorgeous, sumptuous, a genteel Victorian brick.
We went to the Opera that night at the West End to see The Magic Flute and both of us slept through most of it. Gwen started snoring and I had to nudge her awake and promptly did the same myself within minutes. We caught the very excellent Tube back to Banstead and climbed into bed and fell asleep straight away.
The next day we went to Hampton Court, The Albert and Victoria Museum and Tate. Alex and Joan came with us and showed us the delights of London. They were pensioners so we brought lunch with us. Sandwiches, and crisps and lots of Penguin biscuits and flasks of tea. Hampton Court was beautiful, steeped in History and the gardens were lush. We ate ice creams on the lawns. It was like something out of an Agatha Christie mystery. Walls and steps and kitchens centuries old.
It reminded me of my class trip from Thornes House Grammar to Hadrians Wall, seeing what was left of the Roman invasion. England is so steeped in rich history at first we couldn't get enough of it. We walked the streets of London and the weather was quite hot for September. We ended up taking off our shoes and walked into Hyde Park barefoot and had strangers stare at us but we didn't care.
Yazoo played on the radio somewhere and Culture Club and Dexie's Midnight Runners were looking for someone called Eileen. We ate ices from the ice cream van and watched the boats on the lake. We walked to Piccadilly Circus and asked a street vendor if the fruits he had were really nectarines. He said,
"Nah, thems Irish Tomatoes"
"How come they are not green, then ?" Gwen asked.
"Thems Nectarines love", he replied mimicking our Strine Aussie accents.
We walked away and went to Harrods.
I was soon speeding on my way to Yorkshire on the Flying Scotsman with its buffet car and 200 mile an hour speed. I couldn't wait to get there and see my Aunts, Uncles and cousins. Gwen went off on a tour of Europe, 24 countries in 24 days type of tour on a coach. I didn't want to go, I just wanted to see my relations who I hadn't seen since 1968. My Mother had died by then and I was going to be seeing her sisters, Pat and Betty. My uncle Jack and Uncles Joe and Ernest. Cousins Raymond and Keith and John and David too. The last time I had seen them all I was a girl of 16 and now I was a married Mum of 4 girls.
The train pulled into the Sation and there they all were and I cried as did they. Grandma had died and granddad in the intervening years and my Dad was also back living in the UK. I went to see him and his new lady and he was well and happy. But my Aunts were outstanding, so welcoming, and I firstly went to saty with Auntie Betty and Uncle Ernest. They both worked during the day so I was pretty much left to my own devices.
One morning The Commonwealth Games came on from Brisbane and they delightedly showed me The Opening Ceremony. When Matilda the Giant Kangaroo came out and winked and children ran down her pouch of stairs I burst into tears. My Homesickness for Australia coming to the fore. Auntie Betty and Uncle Ernest were shocked and insisted I ring home and talk to my girls. Debbie said they were all fine and I was not to worry.
I had spent all that money to go to the Uk, she said and I should make the most of it. Deb at the time was 11, so mature, so sensible, so loving. I spoke to all the girls and they were all fine. I knew they would be missing me and my husband had insisted I accompany his Mother to the UK, as it was her most fervent wish. I was not sure it was mine but in those days I just did as I was told.
Auntie Pat arrived and took me out, we went shopping and then to a girlfriends of hers house. Mary Cooling. I liked her she was irreverent, swore a lot and smoked like a train. She was the Mother of 8 kids and she kept an immaculate home. We had tea and conversation and she mentioned she had a Son that went to Thornes House Grammar School when I had, his name was David, she said but was also was known by the nickname Cuckoo and I knew him.
he was the boy that had befriended me when I first arrived, he was the class clown a small dark headed boy. I was delighted I knew him and we arranged for us all to go out that night to a club in Wakefield. When I arrived back at Mary's that night a giant of a man entered her kitchen and I was gob smacked. David was now 6" 5", a gaint of a man in a slim fitting V neck jumper and dark pants. He and I greeted each other like the childhood friends we had been from the ages of 12 to 16.
We all went out and danced like fools the music was great and drank Lager and limes and didn't get home until 3am. My aunt and Mary had gone home about midnight and David and I caught a mini cab back to Mary's house. David called it the Mecca Car Park as it had a huge concrete area to one side. The house was typical of most housing Estate homes in Wakefield. Bedrooms upstairs and living area down stairs. There were two what they call "reception rooms and David and I settled in the back one and played music as Mary and Auntie Pat talked in the other.
He looked at my photos of my family of hubby and girls. He said how lucky I was, handsome hubby and 4 pretty little girls. He put on a song he loved, George Benson, and we chatted. He had recently separated from his wife and they had two little girls. David was a big drinker and she had run off with a neighbour, a Pakistani man. He was quite circumspect about it, and he had found that he was coping OK but had lost his sex drive because of it.
I understood as I was suffering from the same thing as I had a violent hubby and had told no one of his behaviour. I told David, the first person ever I had spoken of it to. I had been married 12 years by then and I was exhausted by my hubby. He listened carefully to me and then he grabbed my hands and said,
"You must go home and leave him, he's violent and trust me he won't change" I nodded in agreement. I knew my hubby was also seeing other women and David was disgusted.
"You had guts at School Janette, don't lose your bottle now"
We became best friends again and I was due to go to Wales the next day with My Aunt Betty And Auntie Pat. We were off to a Ballroom dancing competition for Auntie Betty's only grandchild, Rachel. It was an important competition and was held at a Butlins holiday Camp. David rang and rang to make sure I was ok and when we arrived home after 3 days he and I hung out together as much as was possible. Gwen arrived and stayed with Auntie Betty and I then went to stay for a while with Auntie Pat.
Auntie Pat was like Auntie Mame. large, given to wearing large dresses. To me she was beautiful, kind, funny, irreverent. Her hubby Uncle Joe was an invalid, he had ulcerated legs and was quite sick. He was the most down to earth Man I had ever met and also the most darkly jealous man I had ever met. He adored "his Pat" but he didn't trust her around other men. She had a stunningly pretty face and black curly hair. he hated her going out and leaving him on his own. He chain smoked and coughed like a demon, guttural and harsh.
He wanted Auntie Pat to stay home all the time but he was such a misery that she hated staying home with him. She took me to a Pub one night and introduced me to "Her Lover", man called Bill. They had been in love for years. His wife knew of the affair and had once thrown acid in Auntie Pats face. To say I was gobsmacked at meeting her lover would have been the understatement of the century. My Aunt !
He, Bill, was lovely and you could see he adored Pat. They had once worked together years before and had been in love for a long time. She wouldn't leave Joe as he was invalided and he saw no reason to leave his wife as Auntie Pat wouldn't leave. So they met once or twice a week and they were comfortable with the whole arrangement. I sat google eyed, and shocked beyond all comprehension but I tried not to appear avidly curious.
